The Bumpy Road to New Highs – The Human Side Of Money presented by Client Care

by SFT | Jul 27, 2025 | Financial Planning

The halfway mark of the year offers a valuable pause—a chance to reflect not just on what markets have done, but what they’re teaching us. And in classic fashion, 2025 has reminded us that while headlines change, human behaviour doesn’t.

A Return to Real-World Volatility

After two years of unusually smooth gains, the first half of this year brought us back to more normal conditions—complete with tension, turbulence, and surprise.

Early optimism was fuelled by falling inflation and improving sentiment. Then came April 2nd, when President Trump’s sweeping tariff announcement rattled global markets. Within days, some indices were down over 20%. Fear spread faster than facts.

Yet by late April, many of those policies were softened. Markets rebounded. As of June, most are back in the green—some even at new highs. The speed of that turnaround was a powerful reminder: markets don’t wait for comfort.

What the Market Reminded Us

1. Sentiment moves faster than fundamentals.
   Markets are emotional machines. They react to fear long before data confirms it. The tariff panic wasn’t about economic damage—it was about uncertainty. And when the fog cleared, confidence returned.
2. Timing the market is a myth that won’t die.
   The best days often follow the worst. Investors who sold in April likely missed the sharp recovery in May. Staying invested is still the clearest path to long-term returns.
3. Volatility is normal.
   It’s not a flaw in the system—it’s the cost of entry. The dips feel uncomfortable, but they are the very reason equity returns outpace cash over time.

Looking Ahead

This last week the JSE hit a new all-time high, breaking through the 100,000 mark. The next six months will bring more news, more noise, more temptation to react. But your advantage is not in predicting. It’s in persisting. Through patience, resilience, and focus on your plan—not the panic.

This year has already tested that discipline. And it’s shown—once again—that those who stay the course tend to finish ahead.